Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1505694
28 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2023 It's quite a statement going exclusively with this technology. Hendrickson: Yes, it was a leap. We did our research, but it was one of our bigger risks on the project. Most of the other processes are pretty tried and true, but this is newer on the market. is is one area where I didn't want to be saying in two years, "Man, I should have gone with inkjet printers." e balance was the cost of a line like this versus the cost of a traditional line and, ulti- mately, the throughput these lines could give you versus a traditional line. All said and done, four printer lines fit in the area of one tradi- tional line. Footprint space would have been four times that amount in a traditional process. In final finish, we are still using tin-lead HASL because we have some older products that are exempt from some of the RoHS regulations in Europe. We also have a large IPS ENIG line, with baskets that hold 40 panels apiece. Mike, tell us about the IPS line. Mike Brask: Sure. is is basically a big ENIG line. When you get into the line details, you have the whole chemical management scheme. ere are a lot of baths to make up and chemicals to maintain, along with analyses. When you compare this to a typ- ical plating line, you find the blue chemical drums everywhere, with employees transfer- ring chemicals using handheld drum pumps. Here, every tank has continuous level con- trol on it, baths are made up to specific con- centrations, and everything's automatically dosed. Mike Brask, IPS president (left), and John Hendrickson, SEL engineering director (right), in front of the automated IPS ENIG Line.